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Public Policy

This page provides links and information regarding bills currently being tracked by MCEDSV to ensure appropriate protections and considerations are made for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

MCEDSV Brings the Voice of Survivors to Washington, D.C.

The MCEDSV Survivors' Giving Circle Project brought several members of the Giving Circle to Washington, D.C., to share their stories with members of Congress. The Michigan Congressional delegation was given the opportunity to listen to these amazing and powerful women as they shared their stories of courage and survival. Giving Circle members shared the individual challenges they met on the road to safety and justice. Barriers identified included housing, transportation, lack of access to attorneys, the fear of uprooting children, perpetrators owning firearms and other deadly barriers. Survivors were also able to share how crucial the services they received from domestic violence advocates and programs were to their survival.

Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and Pursuit of Full Funding

A strong bipartisan bill to reauthorize VAWA (S. 47) passed in the Senate on February 12, 2013 (78-22) and in the House of Representatives on February 28, 2013 (286-138). President Obama signed the bill into law on March 7, 2013. Reauthorization included landmark protections for women on Tribal lands, improves protections for immigrant victims, ensures services for LGBT survivors, and adds important housing protections for victims. The bill also preserves and maintains core funding for life-saving victim services and prevention through SASP (Sexual Assault Services Program,) FVPSA (Family Violence Prevention and Services Act,) STOP (Services-Training-Officers- Prosecutors,) RPE (Rape Prevention and Education,) and discretionary programs.

Numerous national partners and allied organizations dedicated countless hours of advocacy, with the National Network to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (NNEDV) and National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV) leading the way as part of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women ("NTF".) NTF is focused on the development, passage and implementation of effective public policy to address domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. The full membership of the NTF is comprised of a large and diverse group of national, tribal, state, territorial and local organizations, as well as individuals, committed to securing an end to violence against women. Included are civil rights organizations, labor unions, advocates for children and youth, anti‐poverty groups, immigrant and refugee rights organizations, women's rights leaders, education groups, and others focusing on a wide range of social, economic and racial justice issues. For over a decade, the NTF and its numerous subcommittees have been an important vehicle through which to promote our shared public policy goals.

Protecting VOCA and Crime Victims Compensation at the National and State Level

Protecting funding for the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and the Michigan Crime Victims Services Commission is also at the forefront of the MCEDSV legislative agenda. MCEDSV and its national advocacy partners are front and center in the struggle to raise the cap for victim services and victim compensation. The budget forecast for VOCA funds in Michigan is outstanding especially in light of the many years of our struggle to protect these funds. Recent reductions in funding to Michigan due to the VOCA cap issue have been devastating to local victim service programs. Huge cuts to VOCA-funded programs were made and many programs were cut, drastically slashed, or un-funded altogether. This catastrophe was exacerbated by a desperate state budget climate that made any new appropriations a virtual political impossibility. Against these odds, the MCEDSV Policy Team persevered and secured a promising permanent fix to ongoing VOCA cap concerns.

Use the links below to review passed and pending legislation and the MCEDSV position on each bill. Each bill is listed with its Bill Number, Title and Primary Bill Sponsor. In most cases, the current MCEDSV position will be listed below. This is the position that the Public Policy team is communicating to the bill sponsors. The position may change as the bill progresses through the legislative process.